Robby Denning's Colorado Muzzleloader Hunt

[IrishnId]

My heart is jamm'n! Chute'em Robby!

 

[Jodi]

"He winded me. No shot. He's gone. Was there the whole time exactly where I thought. Wind changed after my last text and there was nothing I could do." Robby

"P.S., It was the wide, tall buck I missed Wednesday"

I could just scream!!!!

 

[IrishnId]

Well $h#t! There goes my Sunday. Sorry bro. Next time.

 

[Jodi]

Found his bed. I was 60 yds from him all that time Bedded in bottom of gully below the rootline of the oaks. Never would have seen him till he got up. heartbreak #3.
Robby

 

[Jodi]

"Drank 1.5 quarts of water, ate snacks, thanked the Lord for the opportunities and started the long hike back to the truck. Feeling is one of somber exhilaration." Robby

 

[coloradoultramag]

Too bad, but you worked your plan and got on a good buck. Sounds like a good hunt getting in range of 3 good bucks!It still hurts though.

 

[Slim Jim]

Thank you Robby for sharing with us. Goes to show how hard hunting can be sometimes even for the veteran hunter.

 

[Jodi]

Robby is on the way home already. (Long drive home).

Stay tuned, in the next few days Robby will post HD video of both the bucks he was chasing. He says thanks for following the thread. It was encouraging for him. Sorry for all the suspense with no buck to show for it.

 

[OBP]

Nothing at all to apologize for, that's hunting, everyone's been there. Thanks for posting the hunt Robby!

 

[Cindy Wamsley]

Thanks for the ride Robby! Drive safe. God bless.

 

[robby denning]

You are welcome, Cindy- and thank you for all the encouragement. It was the next best thing to having you here.

Made it to Green River, Utah before that 4:30 am wake up call caught up with me. Found some Mexican food at the Tamarisk Restaurant on Main. The first meal I’ve had that wasn’t out of camp or a backpack in 10 days and man-o-man was it good.

Had a chance to reflect on the hunt over the last few hundred miles. This is what I learned:

1) It doesn’t matter if you’re hunting with a rifle, bow, or muzzleloader, you have to let the deer do the moving. Big bucks give you no time to shoot if they know you are there.
2) This time of year, be prepared to wait a buck out of his bed 6 or more hours. Later in the fall and closer to the rut, they seem to get up sooner, but really there is no formula when it comes to big deer.
3) Only stalk in to the outer limits of your effective range. Any closer and your margin for error is decreased. If you can shoot a muzzleloader 100 yards, then don’t get closer than about 90. Sure enough the wind will change, you’ll cough, or something and big deer don’t wait for you to shoot.
4) You can’t shoot too much. I’ve probably put over a 1,000 rounds through muzzleloaders over the years and I still miss! Shoot, shoot, and shoot some more.


Also, for the record, this was only my 3rd buck hunt with a muzzleloader and my first early season hunt. The other two were rut hunts in Idaho 10 years ago. I’ve killed zero bucks so far with a muzzleloader. Here's a wrap up video. I will get you some better video of both bucks I shot at when I get home. It's digiscoped through the Rokslide HD camera, but you can see them pretty good and definitely better than in my "kill" photos

[video=vimeo;49576513]http://vimeo.com/49576513[/video]

 

[mtmiller]

Thanks for taking us along.

 

[robby denning]

stayed at Green River State Park campground last night. Didn't even set up the tent, just slept under a billion stars. Felt great to get more than 7 hours of sleep and a hot shower.

On the road by first light. About 6 hours to Idaho then back to work. Can't wait to see those 3 little kids of mine and my hot wife!

 

[belly-deep]

Robby,

Thanks for doing the hunt live, I really enjoyed it. Did you get my text message last night? I was elk hunting all weekend and couldn't reply to your text until I got back into service last night.

 

[robby denning]

Trevor! Yes, got it, but I was driving. Thanks man, Jodi just needed someone to take over the thread while she took the kids to church, but it all worked out.

Sounds like you're ready for elk season. Tell your mom "hi"

Thanks for checking in. Hope you liked the "kill" photos

 

[HellsCanyon]

Robby,

Thanks so much for doing this hunt "live". Truly was a ride and I was pulling for you the entire time! Still am in ways...
Like you said, little smarter, little wiser... thats why they call it hunting and you sure gave it hell. Doubt anybody could've done a much better job especially doing it "live" and solo. Great job brother and can't wait till next time!

Mike

 

[robby denning]

Thanks Mike! I can always count on you for an encouraging word. The hunt was a pleasure to share. Did you and her get a buck this weekend?

 

[HellsCanyon]

Thanks Mike! I can always count on you for an encouraging word. The hunt was a pleasure to share. Did you and her get a buck this weekend?

The bucks were right where we expected them to be, just not big enough to shoot! Had a good time for sure and really only had one full day to hunt as yesterday we had to hunt our way out... Would've hunted it slightly different had I been in the area before but thats how it goes! Was good to finally strap a rifle onto the pack though and get into the high country again. Saw a billy goat, 1 nice black bear, 2 bucks and a doe. Now its on to try and start filling my tags starting next week!

Mike

 

[VANDAL]

Dang Robby...you no doubt gave it your best and left it all on the mountain. Thank you for the entertaining post.

BTW, your learnings are well said and something I think has a lot of value...especially #1 and 3.

Now- get those wounds healed...you have 13 archery days left to go after those nice Idaho bucks.

 

[Chesapeake]

Loved the thread, your an animal and patient!! Your experience echo's mine as far as field performance of peep sights goes. Lovely on targets but I suck with them in field conditions. Maybe I'm inserting my own jaded thoughts into your story.
I need a heavy long barrel and buckhorn sights set to cover the target. It's not ideal on paper but just works in the field, like a fixed 4 or 6x scope.
Under the heat of battle I don't subconsciously center the post in the hoop. Took me a few years and misses to figure that out.